Fátima

Fátima, village and sanctuary, central Portugal. It is located on the tableland of Cova da Iria, 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Leiria.

Fátima was named for a 12th-century Moorish princess, and since 1917 it has been one of the greatest Marian shrines in the world, visited by thousands of pilgrims annually. On May 13, 1917, and in each subsequent month until October of that year, three young peasant children, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reportedly saw a woman who identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. On October 13, a crowd (generally estimated ... (100 of 411 words)